What Comes After
by MYZ-chan
Summary: AU.  As See-more and Kyd Wykkyd try to make their way back home, the remainder of the H.I.V.E. Five deals with the consequences of the freeze.
1. A Rather Sucky Vacation

Post-series by about three weeks. Seymour is See-more, Elliot is Kyd Wykkyd, and Wally is Kid Flash. I'll probably be taking some liberties with the characters (as they were never fully developed in the first place), so I hope no one's offended.

* * *

><p>So far, this was <em>so<em> not how Seymour saw his vacation in Paris going.

"This is _so_ your fault."

Elliot gave him a sharp look before rolling his eyes and shrugging. Seymour knew that he was being fairly irrational, but only felt slightly guilty. After all, the two of them were standing outside in an ice-cold Paris winter by an overly bright, overly cheery Christmas tree. He stomped his foot a few times, trying to get some feeling back into his big toe. It didn't work.

"Can't you just teleport us out of here?" he groaned, beginning to dance on the spot. He was starting to wonder how long frostbite usually took to spread. "I mean, _my _powers weren't affected that badly by the freeze. I don't think yours were, either."

Elliot shook his head before pantomiming something akin to a glass being frozen for a prolonged duration of time, suddenly reheated and subsequently snapped in two, spilling its contents onto the icy earth (don't ask Seymour how his friend managed to do that. Elliot was weird in ways that Seymour could only guess came from the dude being born in a different dimension). Seymour managed to translate this into 'extreme/sudden climate changes causes a drainage in power.' Awesome.

"We should find someone," Seymour mumbled. "Or at least a bus station. I think they have those in France."

Elliot shrugged again. Seymour noted with irritation that the guy was staring up at the Christmas lights with childlike wonder, showing no sign of being affected by the cold. Granted, Elliot hadn't experienced many holidays on planet Earth and while Seymour kind of felt bad about that (since he, unlike some of the members of the Hive, actually liked holidays), this wasn't the time for holiday cheer.

"Can we focus, man?" Seymour noticed that he was shivering and huddled into himself further. It was at these moments that he really wished he had more meat on his bones. Or that he had a warmer 'villain attire.' Oh, well. It's not like it wasn't his fault or anything. "And how are you not cold?"

Elliot looked over in surprise, tilting his head as if to ask, 'are you kidding?'

Seymour sneered. "Very funny."

Elliot smiled slightly, sticking his tongue out at Seymour before glancing around. A few stragglers walked by, mostly couples or the homeless. Otherwise, there was nothing remotely romantic about the streets of Paris right now. No snow to cover the ground, only frost and cobblestone.

Nothing personal about it.

The pale boy tilted his head (in the opposite direction this time) before, finally, beginning to walk down the street.

"Hey – " Seymour sighed, kicked up his heels and began to jog after his friend. "I really hope you know where you're going, Wykkyd."

Elliot spared the shorter boy another glance, smiling in that way that Seymour knew to interpret as 'don't I always?'

No, he thought to himself this time, continuing with Elliot down the street. Not this time. Neither of us do.

* * *

><p>"Jinx?"<p>

Wally honestly didn't know what to think when he walked (yes, walked. It was rare, but it did happen from time to time) into the room. It wasn't as if it was wrecked, certainly. Jinx had way more control than that these days.

But the thing is, it was quiet. Way, way too quiet.

"Hello?" he called out, zipping into the bathroom. "Honey?" Automatically, he winced. Jinx hated it when he called her that. "I'm home," he said weakly, shifting from foot to foot. He'd always wanted to that, but somehow, it didn't feel right.

Finally, he stopped at the bedroom door connected to his own room. Wally would have normally sauntered his way in without hesitation, but right now, he was wary of what might happen if he simply barged in without notice.

"Jinx?"

No response.

Wally took that as a cue to push the door open.

It wasn't often that he saw Jinx being so – well – still. He could only see a head of pink hair poking out from under the blankets as the covers rose and fell slowly. Wally took note that there was a significant lack of Kleenexes in the box before heading over to the bedside

"Um…"

She made no signal that she had heard him besides a twitch of the hair. Wally persisted, sitting down by the edge of the bed and nudging his chin onto the sheets, staring at the general area of where he assumed her face to be.

"Why so tired, beautiful?"

"I'm not." The response was muffled under the blankets, but as if contradicting herself, the blankets curled up even further into a ball. "Just thinking."

Wally raised an eyebrow. "And thinking involves a bed how?"

"Not everyone thinks on speed, Wally."

"Hah. Punny."

There was a slight tremor from the blanket, and Wally guessed that that was Jinx's version of laughing right now.

Wally waited as the steady of sound of breathing continued as before. The sun was still fairly high up, not quite in the west yet. Outside, he could hear the sound of waves and laughter; he assumed that there was some sort of activity going on at the moment with the other Titans. Probably something like volleyball or tetherball, even.

"They're not gone."

That got his attention. "Who?"

"The Hive Five." Jinx almost seemed to flinch when she said their name. "I mean – I know you froze them. I saw. But it doesn't feel like they're gone."

Wally bit his lip. "It's only been three weeks, Jinx. You gotta give it some time."

"Three weeks?" This time, Jinx really did laugh. "Wally, I wouldn't be feeling this paranoid after three weeks of not seeing their faces." There was a pause before she said something so quiet that Wally had to lean forward to hear her. "They hate me now."

"The frozen can't hate." Wally reached out and placed it slowly on the mass of pink hair. After waiting several moments for the hex that never came, Wally assumed that they were to the stage of easy touching. "Jinx, they're not coming back."

They stayed like that for a while, his hand slowly petting her hair while she stewed underneath the blankets. Her hair was greasy, which Wally knew she hated. Jinx hated feeling out of control, out of character. Despised was the word, really. He still didn't move his hand away.

Finally, her hand crawled out from under the covers to grasp at his fingers. "You're right," she said, before kicking the blankets off with her feet and sitting up, smiling at him in that way that made him weak at the knees. Even though her eyes were slightly red around the edges and her hair was messy, Wally still thought she was gorgeous. "I'm being stupid."

"What you're being," he retaliated, "is dirty. You need a shower."

She smirked at him, all traces of previous vulnerability gone. "Let me guess. You want to join me?"

He grinned. "Maybe."

"Better hurry then." Jinx winked before standing up, dropping his hand casually before sauntering (sauntering. Sauntering! That was his thing. She got it from him) out. "I don't take that long to shower."

Needless to say, Wally hurried.


	2. A Quite Preposterous Train Ride

Trains and mediums.

* * *

><p>"This train sucks."<p>

Elliot shrugged before glancing out the window. Seymour scowled. "Can you have an attention span for more than five seconds, please?"

The boy laughed a little before curling up in his seat and closing his eyes. Seymour felt another pang of guilt. He shouldn't be such an ass. Elliot had found the train station in the first place, not to mention sneaking them onto the train to boot. Granted, neither of them knew where the train was headed, but that was fine. They both knew where they were going to end up, anyways.

"Are you hungry?" Elliot tilted his head back and forth. So-so. "I'm pretty sure I could nab something from the cart in the hall." The paler boy shook his head. "You sure?"

Elliot gave him a look. Seymour raised his hands. "Right, sorry."

Looking satisfied, Elliot rested his head on the back of the seat. Seymour wasn't sure if he was seeing things or not, but the guy looked paler than before. He hadn't gotten a good look at himself since before the freeze, but he assumed that he was probably as pale as Elliot right now. Well, as pale as a dude could get in comparison to a guy from a creepy, neighboring dimension.

He scanned the outside of their compartment quickly. A few children ran by, screaming happily while an old woman somehow weaved a cart full of food around the little devils. Single men and women sat in neighboring compartments and seats, and couples huddled close together to gather warmth. Either that, or they were feeling each other up secretly.

"No need to be a secret. This is France, after all," Seymour snickered.

Elliot looked at him questioningly. Seymour waved his hand dismissively, and Elliot closed his eyes again.

It was at that moment that Seymour suddenly realized they might need a change of clothing.

It wasn't the fact that they were both fairly filthy from wandering the streets of Paris for a night or two (hello, pollution) that helped Seymour come to this conclusion; they were both used to not going with a change of clothes for weeks. But as Seymour continued to scan the neighboring compartments and the halls, he was increasingly worried that if they even stepped out of their compartment, people would guess something was up. Two kids dressed in tights with strange headgear (strange headgear being an enormous eyeball and horns that looked slightly like a Wayne rip-off), looking dirty, lost, and enormously pathetic? There was no way they were going to get past security, even with Elliot's escapade skills. Frankly, Seymour was a bit surprised that they'd managed to sneak onto the train in the first place.

He reexamined the compartment behind him. He could make out a young couple that seemed to be falling asleep as their toddler continued to scramble around the compartment. Wily little creature, he was.

Perfect.

"I'll be back."

Elliot didn't even look up this time. Seymour assumed that he was asleep before carefully slipping out the door.

Carefully, he peeked into the compartment window. He had been right on the mark – the couple was fast asleep and didn't look like they'd wake up if a nuclear explosion hit. Time to move.

Seymour slid the compartment door open slightly.

The toddler looked up. Big, bright blue eyes stared at the boy, and Seymour fought the temptation to run far, far away.

"Hey, kid," he whispered quickly, at first in English, then in French when the kid didn't respond, crouching down and beckoning with his finger. "C'mere for a second."

The kid still didn't move.

"It's important." Seymour smiled for extra effect, the kind of innocent, kind smile that even got Jinx to buckle down and hug him. "Please?"

The kid wandered over, far more slowly than Seymour would have ever given him credit for. Still silent, the kid put his thumb up to his mouth and began nibbling on it, staring at Seymour's single eye cautiously.

"What's your name?" Seymour asked sweetly.

The kid nibbled on his thumb some more before answering, "Joseph."

"Well, listen, Joseph, because I have something very important to tell you," Seymour said quickly, trying to sound in control. "There's an old lady with a cart full of food wandering around the train."

"So?" The kid's voice was high and loud, not to mention suspicious. Seymour couldn't help but look over at the parents to see if they'd stirred. They hadn't moved a single muscle.

"So, it's part of a game. You like games, right?"

The kid nodded slowly. Still suspicious. Seymour decided to go up to the next level.

"Well, the game is whoever can find the old lady first, gets all of the candy on her cart." Seymour smiled wider when the kid's eyes widened slightly, his thumb slipping out of his mouth. "I can't play the game now because I'm too old, but I need someone brave enough and fast enough to do it for me, okay?"

At this point, the kid was nodding vigorously, a smile beginning to grow on his face. Seymour quickly marveled at how gullible some kids were before continuing.

"The thing is, there are other kids playing too, so if you see some near her cart, you've got to fight them off. Otherwise, they'll take all the candy before you do. And," Seymour said as the kid began to look positively star-struck, "the old lady might refuse to give you the candy too."

"Why?"

"Because it's part of the game, see? She can't just give you the candy so easily. You have to show you're strong enough and brave enough to take the candy as your prize. Even if you have to fight her for it."

The kid frowned before his face lit up again. "I get it."

Seymour blessed little kid logic. And bad parenting.

"And, before I let you go get her, you've gotta remember that you can't tell anyone that it was me who told you about the game, okay? Not even your parents."

Instantly, the kid's expression flattened out to suspicious again. "Why?"

"Because that's a game rule. If you break it, the old lady will know and go somewhere where you can't find her. You don't want that now, do you?"

The kid shook his head. Seymour grinned. Game, set, match.

"Promise to follow the rules?" He held out his pinky.

The kid took it and nodded, his blue eyes solemn.

Seymour stood up and moved away from the door. "Go, quick."

Joseph ran.

Seymour breathed out. Even though he'd hated the Hive Academy, he couldn't help but be thankful that they'd enforced the whole 'bilingual' thing. It helped a lot with conning people.

Carefully, he stepped clear out of the doorway. After waiting a minute or two, Seymour squeezed his eyes shut and, quickly, rammed his helmet against the compartment door.

Immediately, he could hear the man begin to curse and the woman startle awake. Despite the stars dancing before his eyes, he quickly made his way to an empty compartment, keeping an eye on the couple as they realized that their kid was no longer in the compartment. He watched as they began scrambling through their belongings as if the kid would somehow be hiding in the suitcases before the mother and father ran out of the compartment, calling for Joseph.

Perfect.

He slipped back into the compartment and began rummaging through the suitcases, thanking whatever was up in the sky for gloves. Snatching up a few items of clothing and, after some thought, a 'fashionable' plastic bag, Seymour quickly slipped out of the compartment and back into his, ignoring the cries of the parents as they continued to search for their son. He almost turned back to snatch a pair of stockings that he knew that Jinx would have really loved, but he stopped and shut the door on that thought.

Elliot was still curled in the same position as he was before, red eyes squeezed tightly shut. Shutting the compartment door behind him, Seymour tossed a few clothing items at his friend. "Get up. Wykkyd," he said before beginning to slip out of his clothes. "We need to change, fast."

Elliot twitched before cracking an eye open to stare at Seymour. He didn't budge.

"Now."

Elliot got up.

Two minutes later, they sat bundled in their new clothes with their old ones stewing inside of the plastic bag. Elliot scowled as he tried to push his hair back behind his ears before looking over accusingly at Seymour.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. I didn't know your hair had grown that long either." Elliot still looked fairly un-amused. "Well, if it's really bothering you that much, we can cut it off later."

Seymour hated it when Elliot had these crazy mood-swings. They didn't happen that often, but when they did, they were ugly and had no other purpose than to be as sulky as possible. Well, maybe they did have a purpose right now, but that still didn't mean he had to be mad at Seymour.

And then Seymour remembered how irritable he'd been to Elliot after they'd managed to get out, and he shut those thoughts down.

Someone's stomach growled. Seymour wasn't sure whose, but it didn't really matter.

"I'll get us food when they stop screaming outside," he said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the hall, where they could now hear the sounds of a child and parents screeching while an old woman yowled.

Elliot looked over at him questioningly.

Seymour just smiled and shrugged.

* * *

><p>"So, she thinks they're still around?"<p>

Wally shrugged as he chewed on his sandwich. "Last time I talked to her, she seemed like she was over it."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you talking to me about it?"

"I don't know. I mean, I guess I just want her to be at ease about it, you know?" Wally frowned as he stared at the remains of his sandwich. "I should have put more mayo on this thing."

"Just make yourself another one. It shouldn't take you that long." Floating over a cup, she lifted the kettle off the stove and began to pour the tea. "If you really want me to check, then I'll need something that's been in contact with them."

"A medium?"

"Pretty much."

"I don't know if I can find anything of hers that they've all been near, though."

She shrugged. "So just ask her for something."

"No way."

Raven raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I just – look, I just got her feeling secure. I don't want her to know that I've been doing this check, you know?"

"…your logic is terrible."

Wally frowned. "Nuh-uh."

Raven sighed before taking a sip of tea. "If you really want to put her at ease, then tell her. It may make her temporarily anxious, but if I find that they really are gone like you say, she should be fine again."

"And if you don't?"

"Doubting yourself?"

Wally shrugged. "Weirder things have happened."

Raven took another sip of tea. "Then we'll find a way to deal with it. In any case, the Hive Five weren't dangerous criminals in the first place, mostly troublemakers. The real trouble was with whom they followed. Seeing as right now there aren't any large criminal organizations running about, they wouldn't be much of a threat even if they were on the loose."

"Not a threat to the Titans, maybe."

"What do you mean?"

"Jinx says that they hate her now."

"Generally, when someone betrays a team, it generates a lot of animosity."

"But that place wasn't just her team. It was like her family. She grew up with them." He frowned. "I think she's afraid of being rejected by them."

Raven wrinkled her nose, her equivalent of a derisive snort. "She had a funny way of showing it, then." She took a final sip of tea before beginning to float out of the kitchen.

Wally quickly sped up to her side. "So will you do it or not?"

"I thought I made that clear."

Wally took that as a yes.


End file.
